After stealing one other win from the McLaren staff on the 2025 Qatar Grand Prix, Max Verstappen responded to Zak Brown’s description of him as a ‘horror film’ villain, joking that the staff can name him “Chucky” because the 2025 title combat heads to Abu Dhabi.
Talking within the press convention after his win in Qatar, the reigning champion was requested in regards to the feedback made by the McLaren Racing CEO, who had likened the driving force to a personality in a horror movie that “retains coming again”.
“You possibly can name me Chucky,” he laughed. “I don’t know, I imply I noticed it as effectively, I assumed it was fairly humorous.
“From my facet I simply concentrate on myself, you realize… I do know that once I go within the automobile, I simply attempt to do the perfect like I suppose everybody does. That’s the one factor that I can management, proper? And that’s the one factor that I concentrate on.”
Verstappen’s win got here after McLaren didn’t pit its drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri beneath a security automobile, triggered by contact between Nico Hulkenberg and Pierre Gasly. Whereas the remainder of the sector pitted for contemporary tyres, each papaya-clad drivers stayed out, leaving them out of sync with the remainder of the grid.
This left them susceptible, and finally Piastri fell from first to second whereas Norris slipped from third to fourth.
Max Verstappen, Purple Bull Racing
Picture by: Mario Renzi – Method 1 – Getty Photographs
Brown’s earlier feedback, then, weren’t far off the mark, with him labelling the choice to not pit as a “large mistake” that value his staff a win and sure a double podium, whereas Verstappen was in a position to capitalise on this poor technique.
The Dutchman now sits simply 12 factors off the championship chief as they head to Abu Dhabi, however regardless of this, he insists he is relaxed.
“I am much more relaxed now. I do know that I am 12 factors down. I’m going in there with simply optimistic vitality, I attempt every little thing I can however on the identical time if I do not win it, I nonetheless know that I had a tremendous season. So it would not actually matter,” he stated. “It takes lots of the stress off. I am simply on the market having a superb time like I had at the moment.
“I additionally began at the moment with ‘oh, we’ll see the way it goes.’ I do know that once I sit within the automobile I’ll all the time maximise every little thing I can and that is what I will attempt to do additionally in Abu Dhabi. However on the identical time, I additionally know that we have to depend on most likely some exterior components to have a go at it.
“However a race like at the moment reveals that we predict it may be boring and easy. It is not, so I am hoping that Abu Dhabi goes to be comparable.”
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